Partial shutdown of BacMan geothermal plant starts tomorrow

MANILA - Energy Development Corp (EDC) will shut down a power-generating unit of the Bacon-Manito geothermal plant starting tomorrow for maintenance work.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, EDC said it will inspect the steam turbine and conduct "opportunity maintenance" work on the 55-megawatt BacMan Unit 1 for 12 days starting tomorrow.

"Based on the findings of such inspection, EDC management will decide whether or not further restrictions to the operation of Unit 1 are necessary," it said.

Last March, EDC shut down units 1 and 2 of the BacMan facility after a turbine blade was sheared off at the second unit, which also has a 55-megawatt capacity.

The incident happened within days after the company resumed commercial operations of the power plant, which had undergone rehabilitation.

As a precautionary measure, EDC temporarily suspended the operations of BacMan's Unit 1 for inspection.

EDC acquired the BacMan geothermal plant for P1.28 billion in a state auction held in 2009. The company however had to rehabilitate the facility after it was found to have deteriorated in government hands.